Medycyna Wet. 62 (6), 608-610, 2006
Polak M. P., Rola J., Ro¿ek W., Larska M., Żmudziński J. F.
Activity of the National Reference Laboratory for BSE and Scrapie
The activity of the National Reference Laboratory for a given disease encompasses not only diagnostics but also research and instruction. In the case of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies this range of activities constantly expands along with the accumulation of the data on prion protein characteristics, pathogenesis of spongiform encephalopathies and the threat to consumer health. Besides the standard task, which is confirmatory testing, the reference laboratory should organize instruction, verify diagnostic methods, control the quality of diagnostic reagents, cooperate with the community reference laboratories, participate and arrange comparative tests, as well as take part in the investigations of expert working groups. All the above mentioned aspects of the activity of the National reference laboratory for BSE and scrapie are presented in this review.
Keywords: BSE, TSE, reference laboratory